Two weeks before he passed away on March 14, famed physicist Stephen Hawking left us with one more gift: a paper that predicts how our universe will end.
Reportedly, it’s the sort of work which could receive a Nobel prize, something which Stephen never had – unfortunately, they are not awarded posthumously.
The physicist submitted new research which aims to provide the mathematical groundwork for his famous ‘multiverse’ theory, which proposes that “our” Big Bang was not the only one. It was accompanied by an infinite amount, all creating their own universes.
It’s a controversial idea, given that it, so far, has been impossible to measure or prove. According to the The Sunday Times, this new research, which is currently under review by a Scientific publication, provides a way to test it through experiments.
The paper suggests that a spaceship could measure background radiation in our universe to prove this link to other universes.
It also proposes that our universe will end when all our stars burn out, as we are currently sustained from the Bang’s original spark. This is slightly different from Stephen’s previous theory, which supposed that black holes would consume the universe. Still pretty bleak, though.
The paper is called “A Smooth Exit From Eternal Inflation“, and it was co-authored by Thomas Herthog, a professor of theoretical physics at KU Leuven University.
“This was Stephen: to boldly go where Star Trek fears to tread,” Thomas told The Sunday Times. “He has often been nominated for the Nobel and should have won it. Now he never can.”
Of course, the jury is out on the paper – it hasn’t even been published yet. But it’s clear that Stephen will continue to create debate and inspire new discoveries.
Source: The Sunday Times
